ford shock towers

[matchan420]

so I have deided to put the fj60 axles under my fj40 and can't wait untill its done. I have opted to use ford shock towers and a wondering what would be the best shocks to run to achieve the best articulation? I will be running stock fj40 springs with an add a leaf in front and fj55 springs in the rear.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Your set-up is very simialr to mine. If you set the height right, you can run a 14 inch extension shock. I am running Rancho 9012s. If I had it to do over, I would likely run the same Bilstein 5125s I am running in my FJ60.

Any 12-14 inch extension shock will work well in this application. A lot depends on how much $$ you want to spend. The 7100(?) series Billsteins would be my choice if I drove it often and cost were no object.

In the rear, I run a 10 inch extension shock. I tried longer ones, but there was not enough uptravel and I worried about overcompression and shock damage.

Good luck. I think 60 axles under a 40 are the move to make if you want to stay with Toyota axles. I assume this is a spring over application.

 

['74 UA FJ]

The stock towers work too. I don't think you can utilize 14 inches of travel in an fj40 with 35s or larger with a leaf spring suspension. Here is a pic of mine with a spring over. I am using the stock towers and 11 inch travel shocks. This was a pic while I was measuring for shock length. I think I had about 9 inches of travel on the front. Those are 35 inch tires.

 

[matchan420]

Thanks for the help, I was hoping to get some more travel out of the front...

 

[bustanutley]

Just don't limit up-travel by using shocks too big, I always shake my head at the fools that do this.

 

['74 UA FJ]

Just don't limit up-travel by using shocks too big, I always shake my head at the fools that do this.

Up travel should be limited by tires ripping the fenders.

 

[bustanutley]

what are fenders

 

[Mace]

The stock towers work too. I don't think you can utilize 14 inches of travel in an fj40 with 35s or larger with a leaf spring suspension. Here is a pic of mine with a spring over. I am using the stock towers and 11 inch travel shocks. This was a pic while I was measuring for shock length. I think I had about 9 inches of travel on the front. Those are 35 inch tires.

You can easily utilize 14" travel shocks with a SOA.

 

[matchan420]

I have two sets of fenders, one that have cancer and will be cut for the trail and a good stock set I am keeping for the future. I intend on running 37's, thanks for the info...ill play around with it.

 

['74 UA FJ]

what are fenders

Those things that I have in the front of my 40 until the tires rip them off.

You can easily utilize 14" travel shocks with a SOA.

Maybe once my fenders get ripped off I will be able to flex. Having a 2F boat anchor under the hood is probably better for articulation.

 

[Dusty]

You can easily utilize 14" travel shocks with a SOA.

with leafs? id like to see a pic of that. im running 14" shock with coils and dont use all the travel. i need 12"

 

[bustanutley]

with leafs? id like to see a pic of that. im running 14" shock with coils and dont use all the travel. i need 12"

Your truck is radius armed... my leaf sprung truck uses all of its shock travel 11"ers as I recall. i could put 14ers on there and use it all but I couldn't care less about articulation.

 

['74 UA FJ]

Your truck is radius armed... my leaf sprung truck uses all of its shock travel 11"ers as I recall. i could put 14ers on there and use it all but I couldn't care less about articulation.

Just don't limit up-travel by using shocks too big, I always shake my head at the fools that do this.

 

[bustanutley]

read between the lines, you will see that my thoughts on the matter are consistent.

 

[chicago]

Im doing the SAME set up on my 40, only using 60 series springs in lieu of the 40 front / 55 rear combo.
I used the ford towers on my FJ62 build and they worked great. The price and availability cant be beat either. I used Doestch tech shocks though. 14 front and 12 in rear IIRC. May look at those again for this build.

 

[EWheeler]

Here are some pics of my installation. The pictures show some 14" shocks w/ about 4" of uptravel. There is no way I use all of that down travel and will be going with 12"ers when I upgrade, with these bumps from polyperformance.

Poly Performance Inc. :: Shock Parts :: BBCS Shock Parts :: BBCS Bump Stop - Jeep JK Synergy Suspension Systems, Fox Racing Shox, Beard, CTM, Johnny Joints®, Currie Enterprises, Edelbrock, Total Chaos, Ramsey Winch, Walker Evans, Wilwood, Mastercraft

 

[chicago]

Here are some pics of my installation. The pictures show some 14" shocks w/ about 4" of uptravel. There is no way I use all of that down travel and will be going with 12"ers when I upgrade, with these bumps from polyperformance.

Poly Performance Inc.*::*Shock Parts*::*BBCS Shock Parts*::*BBCS Bump Stop - Jeep JK Synergy Suspension Systems, Fox Racing Shox, Beard, CTM, Johnny Joints®, Currie Enterprises, Edelbrock, Total Chaos, Ramsey Winch, Walker Evans, Wilwood, Mastercraft

Wouldnt it be better to have that little bit extra down travel even if its not frequently needed?

 

[Mace]

Here are some pics of my installation. The pictures show some 14" shocks w/ about 4" of uptravel. There is no way I use all of that down travel and will be going with 12"ers when I upgrade, with these bumps from polyperformance.

What are you basing this statement on?

 

[EWheeler]

What are you basing this statement on?

Measurements. The maximum amount of shaft I have measured exposed is 8" I have nowhere close the offroad or cruiser experience you do, so I have no question you know more than I do. Do you think I can use 10" of droop?

 

[Dusty]

those are 11 inchers in the rear and 14" im the front. i limited the front to about 12" because the front dshaft looks like it is binding at about 12". these pics were before i put straps on. front 3 link. rear radius arm